Tag: tim hortons cup rock

Being a crafty girl has so many benefits; great friends, great conversations, great food, and great creative challenges. The Crafty Girls Cottage Getaway (CGCG) was created for those exact purposes.

The first activity in our three day craft-fest was fantastic and earned Paula the much anticipated THREE GOLD STAR rating! You can get all the messy details of our first craft, The Dirty Pour, here: http://wp.me/p821XN-fu

Lori’s craft was next on the docket. We were originally going to keep our activities secret until the actual event but we decided that we would share in advance just in case research was involved. When Lori first mentioned her craft, she feared it was lame compared to ours and had lamented to us on our Facebook event page about the vast lameness of her choice. Boy, was she wrong!!

FINDING THE PERFECT ROCK

Lori had decided that we were going to paint rocks. There is a much larger story here but I will get there in due time.

Rocky shore of Lake Simcoe. So many crafty options!

At the end of Day One, as our Dirty Pour paintings began their long drying process, we headed out to collect our supplies. Our portion of the north shore of Lake Simcoe is very rocky so we were presented with an enormous amount of choices. I should probably mention that, at this point in the day, we might have imbibed in a few cocktails and were feeling quite giddy following our painting successes.

Water shoes donned, we combed the shore looking for the perfect rock. We found thousands … literally.

Rocks on the north shore of Lake Simcoe, including shells, crayfish parts and lake glass

Wading into the water, we looked for rocks with flat surfaces that would provide a nice painting surface.

Water shoes protecting feet from the slippery algae on the rocks.

Paula, of course, had a plan for her rocks. She was thinking ahead to find specific sizes and shapes for her creative ideas. Lori and I were more like aquatic magpies, merely searching for the pretty rocks. Eventually, while Paula continued her seriously stony search, Lori and I turned to throwing rocks and taking selfies. Kids these days!

Lori and I goofing around. Everyone loves throwing rocks in the water!

We left our rocks on the dock to dry overnight and settled in for an evening of great food and great wine.

Rocks left to dry overnight on the dock. Wine time!!

DAY TWO DAWNS

After a satisfying sleep and tasty breakfast, we hit the craft tables early. We had collected a silly amount of rocks but brought them all up to the cottage for potential painting.

HASTINGS ROCKS

Now for the story behind this activity. Lori lives in a town called Hastings, a smallish community outside Peterborough in Ontario. Two Hastings residents wanted to do something special for Canada’s 150th anniversary and created a town-wide activity called Hastings Rocks. The tagline is FIND A ROCK, PAINT A ROCK, HIDE A ROCK.

In May, Eric Farley and Lynn Rogers launched a Facebook page where they encouraged people of all ages to paint rocks, attain a number for the back of each rock, and hide the rocks a few days before Canada Day on July 1st. Ultimately, the goal was to have 150 rocks in total. When a participant found a rock, they were encouraged to tag a photo of the rock and post it on the Hastings Rock page.

LET THE ROCK PAINTING BEGIN!

Lori was given numbers 103 through 112 for our rocks prior to the CGCG so we were handed the task of painting ten rocks in total. Unsurprisingly, ten rocks turned into fifteen rocks and then fifteen turned into twenty rocks. It was incredibly hard to stop painting our Canada-themed stones!

Here are our offerings:

Lisa’s three Canadian-themed painted and numbered rocks!

Three of Paula’s amazing rocks. Just the beginning ….

Lori’s amazing rocks! Check out that curling maple leaf.

These rocks were numbered, sealed, and put into the pool of rocks for the Hastings Rock Event.

Here is the full offering for the Hastings Rocks Event!

Somehow, we managed to slip in more than the required 10 rocks. Lori had a brainstorm …

Bet you can’t resist trying to roll up the rim on Lori’s Canada-themed coffee cup!

ROCKY FINDS

In the days leading up to and following Canada Day, we were thrilled to see pictures of our rocks that had been found. It was also amazing to see all the other painted rocks as well. Some people chose to keep their rocks and replaced them with one of their own, others re-hid them and some just chose to love their new-found Canadian craft.

Profile Photo from Hastings Rocks Facebook Group Page showing just some of the art that would eventually be hidden. Can’t get more Canadian than this!

NOT JUST FOR HIDING

Of course, we were not done painting rocks after our Hastings Rocks were completed. Painting rocks is very addictive! I just had to have one of Paula’s Moose rocks. I decided to paint some goldfish and lily pads on one to keep all for myself. Paula also painted a beautifully colourful turtle.

Paula wanted to make a moose in her favourite colours! Well done!Goldfish rock painted, sealed and ready to hide out in the garden!Paula painted this turtle for my garden! It looks great among the pink and orange flowers.

Last, but not least, is the face that Lori uncovered in this small rock. It has found a home nestled along with the river rock in one of my gardens.

Rock face hidden among the garden river rock.

Lori’s craft was deemed NOT LAME and was given the coveted THREE GOLD STAR rating! A friend of mine was even inspired to paint rocks with her lady friends during Canada Day weekend. Thank you, Hastings Rocks, for giving us such an inspirational craft!

This, of course, made me (Lisa) very nervous about Day Three. Stay Tuned!

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